Due to demilitarization activities in the United States, Europe, and the former Soviet Union, there are large amounts of waste propellants, explosives, and pyrotechnics (PEP) that need to be dealt with. Traditionally, these materials have been disposed of by open burning/open detonation (OB/OD). Because of environmental concerns and treaty obligations, OB/OD may be discontinued in the near future. Incineration of PEPs is also problematic because of permitting difficulties. A clear need exists for environmentally acceptable alternative technologies for disposing of waste energetic materials.
It is known that high explosives are often unstable in strong base. As a result, it has been proposed to use hot (60.degree. C. to 150.degree. C.) concentrated sodium hydroxide or ammonia to hydrolyze PEPs (T. Spontarelli, et al., "Destruction of Waste Energetic Materials Using Base Hydrolysis," 1993 Incineration Conference, Knoxville, Tenn., May 3-7, 1993). It was determined that RDX (1,3,5-trinitro-1,3,5-triaza-cyclohexane) and HMX (1,3,5,7-tetranitro-1,3,5,7-tetraaza-cyclooctane) consumed three and four moles, respectively, of sodium hydroxide per mole hydrolyzed.
Although concentrated sodium hydroxide effectively degrades nitramines according to the procedure of Spontarelli et al., it would be a significant advancement in the art to use much less caustic materials to degrade nitramines. For instance, metal tooling, parts, and containers often become contaminated with nitramines. Strong caustic solutions tend to corrode and damage metal articles. Therefore, there is a need for effective processes of degrading nitramines which utilize milder conditions.
It would be a further advancement in the art to provide rapid and environmentally acceptable processes of degrading waste nitramines into non-energetic forms.
Such methods of destroying nitramines are disclosed and claimed herein.